Too Much to Do 9/7/2011

I have been going over the minutes of an organization and suddenly I had a thought: when people get together to do something they still think of themselves as individuals doing things who happen to belong to the same group.

Over and over again in the minutes, I see reports on what each person is supposed to do. Tommy is going to call all the school art teachers and make a list of supplies needed. Beth is going to talk to the CEO of Arts Are Us and see about getting a discount. Jim will review the website and update the calendar, and so on.

Now let me ask you, does this make you want to join this group? Are you struggling with boredom and need more to do? Exactly, you are busy, I am busy. The last thing we need is more work. Now try this on:

What if the group said, today we will have a "call all teachers and make a list" party. We will have food, music, and time to chat. We will take turns calling a teacher and if we get put on hold or have to call eighty administrators to get the right number, we will vent our frustration by telling jokes (such as making up limericks - there once was a phone number list, as long as my elbow to fist...). Now would you be interested in joining such a group? Especially if they were working together on stuff that you believed in? I would, because it would sound like fun.

The one thing missing in my life is a fun time with a group of people. I'm not missing work! I'm not missing dull meetings. I've had those a plenty. I'm missing fun with other people.

I think there is this thought that if we join together we will get more done as individuals. But I'm beginning to think that we need to think a new way: if we join groups we will get less done, but we will make more friends.

Now, I've known groups that were based on fun. I knew a group in Roanoke, Virginia, where I am originally from, that had a load of fun together. And they also created really fun public events together. That group seemed to grow bigger and bigger. They didn't seem to use each other for maximum efficiency. They saw each other as friends.

Getting back to the organization whose minutes I am reading, their membership is getting smaller. And when I read the minutes, I can see why. What a long, lonely "to do list" each person has. If I could, I'd try to talk them into getting less done by doing the list together.